


Beyond Beneath

by Xazz



Series: Beneath [1]
Category: Assassin’s Creed
Genre: AU, Arranged Marriage, Avatar, Duality, First Love, Forced Marriage, Gen, Gods AU, Love at First Sight, M/M, Religion, Shared Clothing, Underground, not earth religions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xazz/pseuds/Xazz
Summary: Since he was a boy Altair had been terrified of whatever he was supposed to marry. No one had ever seen something from Beyond.  But as he’d gotten older Altair just became stubborn about it. If he was going to be forced to do so he’d see it. He’d talk to it.
Relationships: Malik Al-Sayf/Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Series: Beneath [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909906
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	Beyond Beneath

It was so early that not even the lamps had been turned up for the daylight. Altair was awake already waiting in the antechamber to be found. He hadn’t slept all night. He’d been too excited. Too nervous.

Today he’d get to see the Beyond for the first time.

It was an honor. A special event only certain people got to do. Or maybe if you had a ton of money and you gave it all to the church. Altair hadn’t had to do that. He was special.

A lamp lighter came around with their oil canister and lighter to make sure all the lamps were lit for the coming day. It was a pretegious job down here. To keep the dark at bay, keep the elaborately painted walls illuminated so no one would forget the majesty of their world. The walls were painted in creatures and plants of the Beneath, or scenes of the city, or people engaging in activities of their lives. Altair’s favorite scene was down deep Beneath near the sunstone mines where the walls were painted in a display he was told was a ‘sky’ at night. He didn’t know what a sky was but it filled him with wonder seeing the gleaming specks of sunstone peaking out from the walls.

He spun when the door opened behind him. A scruffy monk came out of the chamber beyond and Altair was noticed instantly. They were surprised to see him. “Your Depth, what are you doing here?”

Altair strode over to them purposefully. “What do you think? Today see those of Beyond.”

The monk gave him a shrewd look. “Most Depths are not so excited about such a prospect.”

Altair gave him a cool look from his glowing golden eyes. “When have you known to be like other Depths?”

The monk looked aside. “I suppose not,” he agreed lowly. He mumbled something but Altair didn’t catch it. “I suppose you should come in, your Depth,” and he opened the door wider to the temple gatehouse.

The temple of Beneath also served as the gatehouse between worlds. The temple itself was only a large room for community worship but the gatehouse itself extended far up into darkness. Altair had never seen anything but darkness but he knew the stories. That at night a searing white light of the eye of god looked down the great tunnel and burned whoever it touched, often times blinding them. Looking up the great shaft that hung above the top of the temple Altair saw nothing. The sheer walls of the shaft were unadorned and disappeared into pitch darkness less than a hundred feet up.

“Your Depth, shall I fetch the Speaker?”

“Yeah,” Altair said slowly, head craned back, trying to pierce the darkness with his glowing eyes. The darkness gave nothing to him. The monk scuttled away and Altair stayed where he was standing, at the center of the worship hall. Beneath his feet was a mosaic of the the world, from inside out. The Core, the Mantle, Beneath, and the haze of Beyond as the thinnest line above the crust.

“Your Depth,” it was the Speaker. Altair didn’t give them the acknowledgement of his gaze. “What are you doing here so early?”

“What do you think?” Altair pointed up at the darkness.

He could hear the scowl in the Speaker’s voice if not see it on their face. “The ceremony is a formality only. You don’t have to-

“No,” Altair looked at them, silencing them. “I am aware it is only a formality. But if I’m going to be forced to marry someone I don’t even know I will see them. And that’s the end of it.”

The Speaker’s face got very tight. Then they bowed, “Of course, your Depth,” they said.

“When?”

“The ceremony isn’t until later today. You aren’t required for some time, your Depth,” they said, still bowed.

Altair looked up at the dark shaft. “I want to go now.”

They sputtered. “What? Impossible.”

“Why?”

“I hope not to insult your intelligence, your Depth, but there is no way to Beyond.”

“Then how do I get up there?”

“You don’t. They come to us.”

“What? But my father said-

“If it pleases your Depth but your father is very old. Things have changed since his ceremony.” Altair glowered but knew there was no fighting with the Speaker on these things.

“Fine,” and he sat on one of the pews that surrounded the circular mosaic of the world. “Then I will wait here until they show themselves.”

The Speaker opened and closed their mouth several times looking more irate with every passing second. Then they just slammed their mouth closed. “Of course, your Depth. However you please,” and they bowed again. Altair wasn’t impressed. He motioned with a hand they could go. The Speaker, he knew, hated his insolence but they were only a Speaker and Altair was the Depth. If they cared at all for the continued existence of the Beneath it did not do well to upset the realized Depth. The Speaker clenched their jaw but scuttled off.

Altair leaned back, arms over the back of the pew, craning his head back looking up at the dark shaft.

His entire life he’d been told by everyone that he was destined to be joined with someone from the Beyond. He didn’t know anything about them. All he knew was that the day he’d become realized in his own right everyone had, at first, excitedly told him about his new arrangement, and as the years wore on with greater concern. For no other reason that unlike others like Altair he insisted on the fact that he would, somehow, see who it was he was marrying. His father had been destined to and joined with someone from the Beyond too. That wasn’t Altair’s mother. No. Altair’s mother was just a beautiful girl his father had seen down in the sunstone mines and fallen for at first sight. They’d never been married, his hand already given to another. But marriage meant little to a Depth like Altair.

When he’d been young he’d been terrified of whatever he was supposed to marry once he’d become realized. No one had ever seen something from Beyond, as during the ceremony everyone kept their faces covered. Something about a bright, brilliant light that burned your vision away. But as he’d gotten older Altair just became stubborn about it. He’d never agreed to marry this... thing, whatever it was. If he was going to be forced to do so he’d see it. He’d talk to it.

The lights came on brighter around him, the monks increasing the light in the temple. Altair didn’t move from where he was seated. At one point food was brought for him and he ate mostly to not make the monks worry, or tell his father. He didn’t need that.

The day kept on and Altair felt the sleepless night catch up to him. His eyelids felt heavy and they drifted down on more than one occasion. He stubbornly kept them open.

He must have dozed because he felt himself wake when someone touched his shoulder. For a moment the walls trembled and everyone took a step back but then the rumbling stopped. “What now?” he asked, looking at the Speaker and a few monks. The monks already wore face shields for the ceremony. The Speaker had a mask in their hand with slits for eye holes. Just barely enough to see.

“The ceremony will begin shortly. You are not prepared,” and the Speaker dragged him to stand. “Remove your smock,” they ordered and Altair took his clothes off. He was given a lavish, heavy, coat that was so long it created a pool of fabric all around him. It was a strange color he’d never seen and had no name for with strange designs he couldn’t describe across it.

“What is this?” he asked even as he pulled on the coat.

“A gift from Beyond. It tells them you are destined.” They motioned for Altair to do the big buttons. Altair did. The coat was so heavy it was hard to move in, hard to lift his arms, and with all the fabric would be almost impossible to walk. “And this,” a face shield was handed to him.

“I’m not wearing this,” he said, looking at it with disdain.

“You will.”

“Make me,” Altair challenged them viciously. The walls rumbled again.

“Fine fine. But do not cry when you go blind,” the Speaker sniffed.

Altair put the face shield on top of his head so he could pull it down if needed. The Speaker looked up and Altair did too. “What-“ his eyes got huge. Far above. He could see a small circle of color in the darkness. It was the opening of the shaft. It was purple, almost brown, almost black. As Altair watched it turned more purple and then orange, and then yellow, and then finally a color he had no name for but was sort of like the color of his coat.

Then he felt his eyes burn.

He hissed and looked away from the circle.

A shaft of light slipped down the side of the gatehouse. “What is that?” Altair asked the Speaker.

“The burning eye of god. Now put your mask on so you don’t blind yourself, your Depth,” the Speaker said. Altair didn’t but did use the edge of the mask to glance at the burning white circle so far above.

There was a strange noise. Altair didn’t understand what he was hearing. It sounded like forge bellows and like the strange way the sunstones sang to Altair.He looked up but against the searing light there was nothing to see and he looked away again. The sound grew louder and louder and with it came the smell of burning like a burning gas.

Altair didn’t look again. His heart was racing. He’d been full of bravado but now faced with reality he almost chickened out and put the face covering on. Then several pairs of shoes appeared in the top of his vision, then legs, then bodies and finally he looked up enough to see what had come from Beyond.

They were humans. Or humanoid at any rate. They wore heavy duty clothing of no interesting color that covered every inch of their body. The attendants wore face masks with glass eye holes and some sort of breathing apparatus. They wore something over their shoulders, the source of the fire maybe. But Altair knew who was his instantly. He knew because, like him, they were brilliantly colored. Soaked in a layered red and orange coat covered in perfect shining sunstones. But that wasn’t impressive to Altair. What was was what seemed to be a pair of gilded wings attached to their coat covered in a fortune’s worth of gemstones but no where near large enough to support him. And their helm. It was a perfect dome over their face. No bumps or ridges. No eye holes. It was an alien helmet like they were caught in a glass cage.

The Speaker spoke but his words were not ones Altair was familiar with. Another tongue? Huh. Maybe that was why the Speaker was called the Speaker. One of those of Beyond spoke back to him in the same way.

Altair wasn’t interested in them. He was interested in the strange winged thing. Judging by their stance and body type he’d say they were male. That surprised Altair. The one his father had been destined to had been a woman, or so his father said. But when they were so covered it had to be impossible to say. They also weren’t listening to their Speakers. They were looking around the temple. Altair could tell by the slight shift of their head while also trying to appear attentive. That made him smirk. So his minders were as annoying and boring as Altair’s own. Good to know.

But what were they? And that helmet. Why was it not like the others? He had hoped if he kept his face shield up he’d get to see what they looked like but no. There was no seeing. That annoyed him. He rubbed his fingers together in thought. He knew how he could see. It’d make the Speaker go crazy too. Perfect.

But the coat he was wearing was so heavy. Heavy on purpose he wasn’t sure but it was so hard to move in it. The man from Beyond wasn’t exactly near but it would be impossible to move to him. That infuriated him. The walls started to vibrate in his annoyance. Those from Beyond looked up and around, startled, and the monks spoke in hushed tones to one another.

Undoing the buttons with his hands would take too long.Instead he just popped them all with a single, violent, quake that made the loose dirt along the floor rattle. “Altair,” the Speaker hissed as his heavy colorful cloak fell to the floor, leaving him in just his breeches. Altair didn’t look at him and just stepped over the coat on the floor.

The men from Beyond moved in front of him when it was clear where he was going. The insolence! Again the walls began to tremble. A different voice said something and Altair could see the reluctance in their eyes to move out of the way. Altair gave them not even a look and stepped up to the man in the red and orange coat. His boots and helm gave him an inch or two on Altair as he came up to him.

He pushed his face shield further back to get a bettter look at him up close. The mask was opaque. How did he see out of it? How did Altair see in? He had a feeling the point was so they couldn’t see each other. But what was the point of being a Depth if not to see things that were unseen?

Slowly, to not startle, he reached up and put his hand on the side of the helmet. Where he touched it sent out a gentle vibration, so soft it was barely felt, would be less intrusive than the loud sound of his breathing in his helmet. As he laid his hand across the helmet he was shocked when the wings at the back of the coat shimmered in an intense heat and then for a second shot out several jets of flame. But that wasn’t the source of the burning fuel smell he’d smelled earlier.

The vibration created an echo of an image for Altair in his mind. He saw the face of a man but it was indistinct, the fine details lost in the fact that the mask was not flush against his face. So they were human. If human like them why all this cloak and dagger and secrecy?

“Altair,” the Speaker hissed from behind him but Altair paid him no mind. “Get back over here.”

“Why does he wear a mask like this? Can he see me?” Altair asked aloud, knowing that the other Speaker from Beyond could understand him. They didn’t speak right away. He turned and fixed his glowing eyes to the Speaker. “I know you can understand me. Answer me,” he demanded.

He was surprised when the man spoke. It was the voice he’d heard earlier and with his hand against his helm he could feel his voice too. Whatever he’d said cowed the Beyond Speaker. “He uh— he asked if you are his?” the Beyond Speaker said. “And no, he can’t see you.” For some reason that infuriated him. Why?

He looked away from the Beyond Speaker, into the unflinching mask. “Supposedly,” Altair said. The Speaker didn’t say anything but he didn’t care. If he could hear he could hear Altair’s tone. And their languages didn’t sound so different as to not convey the same tones.

He took his hand back when the man took a step back and grabbed his helmet in both hands. It seemed to take a great effort to yank it off his head. His head was streaked with sweat, his black hair plastered to his forehead. And when he lifted his head a pair of golden glowing eyes looked back at Altair.

If the collection of monks had been quiet before it was downright cryptically silent beneath the shaft of the gatehouse.

Altair had never seen someone else like him other than his own father. Only a realized Depth had eyes like that. And yet this man had them.

Altair finally took in the rest of his face. Altair could hardly call him good looking but he was handsome all the same with a strong nose and chin and good cheek bones. He was clean shaven but Altair could tell it was a new trim by how prickly the shadow on his face was like the monks had made him shave to fit his head into the helmet.

He started when the man reached over and clasped the side of Altair’s face in his gloved hand. “Ytterp,” was what it sounded like. Altair didn’t know what that meant. Even through his glove Altair could feel how warm his hand was, like putting a piece of warmed rock against his skin. Pleasant. Almost hot.

The Beyond Speaker sidled over to the man and was speaking to him. Only then did he tear his eyes away from Altair. When he wasn’t looking at Altair he took a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. They spoke back and forth and Altair wanted to know what they were saying. Well. He could.

He turned and saw his own Speaker standing barely a few feet away. They were still adorned by their mask but Altair could tell by the set of their shoulders and fists by their side that they were very stressed. He stepped away from the man and his Speaker to his own. “What are they saying?” he asked.

That jarred the Speaker out of their daze. “What are you doing? What have you done?” they asked, furious.

“Watch your tone, Speaker,” Altair hissed right back.

That didn’t make them back down. “What are you doing?” they said again.

“I told you when I came in. If you were going to make me marry someone then I was going to see them,” Altair said stubbornly. “Now watch your tone, Speaker,” he growled. “What are they saying?” he pointed at the man and his Speaker. He had his helmet tucked under an arm and their conversation seemed a lot more at ease than the one Altair was having.

“You expect me to eavesdrop, your Depth?” the Speaker asked, scandalized.

“What good are you to me as a Speaker if you won’t speak?” Altair was starting to get angry. The temple started to rumble, the walls tremble, the pews vibrate enough to inch their way across the floor in agonizing slowness. What was the point of all of this, and the point of him, if those supposed to support him rejected his desires at every turn? It didn’t even register that he was doing something so outrageous by not wearing his face shield, or the fact that he was literally shirtless. Only because the damn Speaker had demanded he wear that horrible coat that was basically a cage. One did not cage a thing like Altair. He’d bring down this entire temple if the Speaker didn’t start singing a different tune.

He came up short when a gloved hand was put on his shoulder. He looked over and there was the man with the glowing golden eyes. “Ysae, yobytterp,” he said. The quake subsided. He finally heard the panicked mutterings of the monks only as they faded along with the quake. He said something more but Altair didn’t understand. He did understand the pull on his shoulder and he went, leaving his Speaker and monks to their nattering.

Altair, the man, and the man’s Speaker stood in a triad at the center of the earth mosaic. “Your Depth,” the Speaker said with a slight bow of their head.

“You’re a much better Speaker than mine,” Altair scoffed.

“You are their first to overwatch. They are easily flustered,” the Speaker seemed amused by that.

“Who is that? What’s his name?” he pointed at the man.

“His name is Malik, his Infinite,” Altair liked that title a lot. He didn’t know quite know what it had to do with this but it sounded so grand. “What is your purpose with doing such a thing now-

“Shush,” Altair said, holding a hand up. He wasn’t looking at the Speaker. He was looking at the man who since he was young he’d always been told he’d marry. His promised. In all those years they’d never told him his name. Maybe the monks and Speaker hadn’t known his name. It seemed the first time they’d ever seen him too. And now Altair had a name. Malik. A rough name with a hard end not unlike a chipped stone. Malik was looking back at him, eyes lingering on no one part of him for more than an instant, intent to take in all of him.

He reached out and put his hand gently in the middle of Malik’s chest. “Malik,” he said. Then he put his hand on his own naked chest. “Altair.”

The only word he caught was ‘ytterp’ amid a bigger comment. Then Malik looked at the Speaker, saying something else. “His Infinite wanted to know if you were cold,” the Speaker said.

“Hmm?”

“You are only half dressed, your Depth. He is concerned for your health,” the Speaker said.

Altair really hadn’t noticed. He didn’t feel cold but his arms were covered in lizard scales from a chill. “Oh. I suppose. I won’t wear that horrid coat they put me in, though,” he scowled. The Speaker relayed the message. Altair wasn’t the only one surprised when Malik undid the buckles on his own coat and shrugged it off. Under it he wore a long sleeved black shirt. The Speaker started talking very quickly, sounding a lot like Altair’s Speaker, reprimanding Malik.

Malik offered him the coat. Altair reached for it to take it and then Malik was helping him put it on. It was warm and smelled like metal polish, musk, and a scent he couldn’t place. It was utterly alien but it wasn’t man either. It was something so strange and foreign, like the color of the coat they’d originally put him in. Malik said something and it sounded smug. The Speaker scolded him. Altair could only imagine it had something to do with him.

“Thank you,” he said. The coat wasn’t that much bigger than him. Just broader about the shoulders and arms so hung long on his arms. Without the coat Altair could see Malik’s frame was built.

The Speaker sighed at what Malik said. “His Infinite says it looks better on you,” and as he finished Malik winked at him. Altair smiled slightly.

Altair’s Speaker finally pulled himself together and came over to their triad. “This is not done,” they said harshly.

“It is now,” Malik’s Speaker said calmly. “It does no good to argue with it.”

“Yeah, Speaker,” Altair leered at his. The Speaker glared back at him.

“Antagonizing them doesn’t do any good, your Depth,” Malik’s Speaker said. “The ceremony will still go underway, despite the upset you have caused.”

Altair folded his arms stubbornly. “Just because my forefathers rolled over and allowed themselves to be bound to someone unseen doesn’t mean I had to be.”

The Speakers said nothing but he saw they share a look through their squint eyed masks. Then Malik’s Speaker spoke to him, leaving Altair out of the conversation. “What are they saying?” he asked his Speaker quietly.

“He’s asking how his Infinite feels about this,” they said.

“And?” The Speaker said nothing. Altair nudged them but they just shot him a look through the mask. Altair wasn’t impressed.

“His Infinite is ready to proceed with the ceremony, are you?” Malik’s Speaker said.

“That’s it?” Altair demanded.

“I can only blame the current Speaker for not better preparing you for your duty,” Malik’s Speaker said apologetically. “But yes. Regardless of anything else the ceremony must commence. This stalling tactic of yours doesn’t change the outcome of today, your Depth,” he said patiently, almost like how Altair’s father would talk to him as a boy.

“I wasn’t stalling,” Altair huffed, arms still folded. “I wasn’t going to marry a faceless thing from Beyond. I have no issue with the ceremony seeing as you aren’t about to marry me to some five headed ogre.” Malik’s Speaker chuckled, his own made a noise of outrage.

“Very well,” Malik’s Speaker said. “Speaker if you would do your duty to your Depth, properly this time,” he said to Altair’s Speaker.

Judging by the set of their shoulders the Speaker was not pleased. But they grabbed Altair’s arm and pulled him away. “You are so difficult, Altair,” they grumbled.

“I am a Depth, what do you expect?” Altair asked. They had no good answer.

“Now remove that affront and wear the proper clothes of your station,” the Speaker said and several monks held up the strange coat.

Altair just pulled the red and orange coat tighter around him. “No. My husband gave it to me,” he was half doing it to be annoying and half because it was true.

“Altair,” the Speaker hissed.

“He didn’t ask for it back,” Altair said, holding the coat around him.

“Fine. Then at least put on your face shield. You’ve seen him. It can be for tradition sake if not its intended purpose,” the Speaker said tightly.

“Fineee,” Altair said and pulled the thin metal mask down over his face. He was at once in the dark and didn’t put it past the Speaker to try and pull his coat off now that he was blind. He wrapped it around him tighter, the gilt metal wings on the back twinkling in the movement.

The Speaker took Altair’s hand and pulled him forward gently. He was trying to be aware of everything, even sensing through the soles of his feet, wanting to be as unblind as he could be. His hand was placed on top of someone else’s, he assumed Malik’s from the fact that it was covered in worked leather.

The Speakers were saying stuff but he was hardly listening. He was trying to see through vibrations without letting everyone know he was shaking the floor. He hated being blind. He was never blind.

“Altair,” his name brought him back to the present. He turned to the voice of his Speaker. “Pay attention.”

“Sorry you’re both just sooooo boring,” he complained, slouching as he did so. Malik chuckled and he squeezed Altair’s hand nicely, he didn’t know what Altair had said but he got the idea.

If his Speaker was about to snap at him he was stopped when Malik’s went, “It is an uninspired ceremony. But very important. It is almost over. Please pay attention for the rest.”

“I guess I could do that,” Altair huffed.

The Speaker spoke to Malik and Altair wanted to know so desperately what he was saying. Then Malik said something. As he did he squeezed Altair’s hand again.

“Altair,” it was Malik’s Speaker. Why? Why not his Speaker? He missed half of what he was saying as he came to the realization that they were called Speakers because they spoke on their behalf. “Do you accept the Inifinite to be your husband, in whatever way that means for the Beyond and Beneath? To never marry another? To hold true to our pact and keep safe the duality of our existence.”

Altair rolled his eyes under the mask. They were taking this really seriously. “Yes,” he said. Not like it mattered. Altair was still young and had a father. His existence or power of Beneath was hardly worth the notice compared to his father who knew the fine tuning of their powers.

“Then may you two be wed,” Malik’s Speaker said. Malik said something and his Speaker coughed, having to clear his throat before replying, sounding flustered.

His hand was removed from Malik’s and Altair didn’t even had time to react before his fingers were spread and a burning metal clamp was put around the base of his left third finger. It was only for a few seconds but it made him scream in shock and pain, making the walls vibrate and shiver, small stones falling from the shaft above. Then the brand was removed and he yanked his hand to him. Someone, the Speaker or one of the monks yanked his hand away from his body to wrap it in a cold, wet, rag. The icy feeling soothed the pain of the brand.

He was aware of the same happening to Malik by the smell of burning flesh. It must have been done while Altair was trying to not lose his mind to the searing brand. “And so you two are bound together. The ceremony is over.”

Altair ripped his mask off. “It’s polite to warn someone before you brand them, assholes,” he snarled.

“You knew it would happen,” the Speaker said. “I’ve told you I don’t know how many times what happens during a Depth’s wedding ceremony.”

“Still a warning!” Altair cried. The Speaker said nothing. Everyone looked up when a darkness blotted out the light at the top of the shaft. Those of Beyond started talking quickly. “What now?” Altair asked his Speaker.

“They’re preparing to depart.”

“What? Already?”

“It is how it is done,” the Speaker said.

Still cradling his hand Altair went over to Malik. He was wearing his stupid helmet again and unlike Altair he couldn’t just rip it off one handed. “Yobyttrep,” he said, fondly, when Altair came up to him. He said some more things but it was lost on Altair. Instead Altair looked at his Speaker who was listening intently.

“What’d he say?” he asked him.

The Speaker paused a moment and Altair knew immediately he wasn’t going to get the whole truth. “He said his apologies for still wearing his helmet. And that he wishes that we could stay longer. But we must be going now, our window is limited.”

“Why?”

“It is beyond what you can understand,” the Speaker said.

“You calling me a fool?” Altair growled.

“No. It is Beyond. There is much you wouldn’t understand, as we wouldn’t about Beneath,” the Speaker said gently. That made Altair lower his hackles.

“Will we meet again?” Altair asked but was asking Malik, not the Speaker.

“He says he hopes so,” the Speaker said even as Malik reached out and cupped Altair face in his heavy gloved hand. “But don’t expect it, your Depth. It isn’t rightly done.” Altair hardly paid him any mind. He just kept looking at Malik. The Speaker said something to Malik and Altair could feel the regret in his movements as he pulled back from Altair.

“Siht hctaw,” Malik told Altair and Altair’s eyes grew so wide and he gasped softly when to his surprise a pair of wings made of pure flame appeared behind Malik’s back. They weren’t wings like a bat’s. They were other worldly and Altair only just registered them as wings as they were almost like jets of flame that curled and shimmered in the air behind Malik. They filled the entire temple with brilliant, blinding, light; normally it would be too bright for Altair but he’d been standing in the full light of the shaft and while it hurt his eyes he wasn’t blinded.

If he could have swooned harder he would have.

Then he was aware that Malik’s entourage was leaving. They started to float and the smell of burning oil filled the temple chamber. Malik’s brilliant wings gave off no smell. Altair watched, mouth slightly open as the flame wings moved and Malik jumped into the air, hovered some feet above the ground, and started to go up.

Only when he was off the ground did Altair realize he was still wearing the red coat! “What about your coat?” he called up to them.

Malik paused his ascent, grabbed the boot of the Speaker. To exchange some words that over the sound of fire was too hard to hear. Altair’s heart did a back flip when Malik called back down to him. “Sceep— Keep yt,” and Altair understood. He smiled.

Altair went to stand in the center of the mosaic of the world, craning his head back so he could watch them the entire time. They became toy men and then little spots in the distance and were eventually swallowed up by the to of the shaft so far away and Altair couldn’t see them anymore. He sighed when he couldn’t see them anymore.

“I’ll be telling your father about your behavior, Altair,” the Speaker said.

“It is your Depth to you, Speaker,” Altair said, not looking at them. “And go ahead. See if I give a shit,” and he finally moved away from the center of the world.“See if he does too.” He went to gather his clothes from before this entire thing. He made sure the buttons on Malik’s coat were properly buttoned before tucking the clothes under his armpit. “I’ll be seeing you at service, Speaker. Goodbye,” and he left without fanfare. He could feel the Speaker glaring after him but didn’t care. He’d done the stupid ceremony and married a man he’d never met or known for the good of Beneath. Or something.

When he went home his father was busy with his little sibling. A normal child. No forced arranged marriage or weight of Beneath upon their lives. Altair knew, bitterly, that his father loved them more than him. He wasn’t sure if it was because they were younger or because they weren’t a Depth. But they did not speak to one another and Altair went to his room. Somehow he wasn’t surprised that the gilt wings came off, being slotted into place via pouches in the back. He took those off and laid down on his bed closing his eyes. Now that he’d completed the ceremony and wasn’t anxious he could finally get that sleep he’d missed last night.

The coat smelled foreign. Of someone else’s life. Meaning it smelled of Malik, a man he might never see again. It took him a while to fall asleep. He felt like if he slept then today would be over and that promise of maybe seeing Malik again would be lost. But he did eventually lose out to his heavy eyelids and slept, the stone walls of his room singing him softly to sleep, a lullaby he’d always known.


End file.
